Pathfinder Tales: "Pirate's Promise" [RPG]

 NO SPOILERS

Pirate’s Promise is my new favourite Pathfinder novel, and I’ve read a lot of them.  The story is full of genuine surprises, truly thrilling action scenes, strong dialogue, intelligent use of the setting, and three-dimensional characters.  The novel avoids the problems that plague some RPG novels (a series of random encounters, cardboard personalities, the good guys always win because they’re the good guys, etc.).  I was on the edge of my seat for this one, and I’m not a reader or gamer with a particular interest in pirates.  The novel ends strongly, and I can’t wait to read the next one.  Do yourself a favor and read this book (after reading Pirate’s Honor, naturally).

SPOILERS!

The Stargazers from Pirate’s Honor are back in Pirate’s Promise.  The novel has two main threads that eventually connect.  In Katapesh, the Stargazers are on shore leave so that the ship’s lunar naga navigator can visit a magical observatory in the desert.  This thread has exciting battles against were-jackals and the surprise revelation that there’s another lunar naga at the observatory—one with far more problematic motivations than mere astronomy.  Meanwhile, on Okeno, Vevre Jhaffre continues to pose as a mere courtesan while secretly spying for Andoran to help end the slave trade.  This is storytelling that doesn’t mess around—in one scene, Vevre has to murder an ally because she knows he’s made a blunder and, if interrogated, could reveal the whole secret abolitionist movement!  A major part of the plot here is that Vevre has come under investigation by an inquisitor of the Church of Abadar; Vevre does what Vevre does best and tries to seduce the inquisitor but ends up developing genuine feelings for her.  It’s great to see queer relationships in the setting.  I also love the portrayal of Vevre’s banter with her familiar; the novel really demonstrates why it’d be worth keeping one around.  Just don’t get *too* invested, as this isn’t a book that’s above killing a cat. 

The two threads come together when Vevre enlists Torius (captain of the Stargazer) to become her new intermediary with Andoran.  Torius’ acceptance makes perfect sense from what we know of his background, but I like how the rest of the crew struggle with the choice—it’s a huge risk, after all.  The climax of the book, a massive ship-to-ship battle, really shows off the author’s mastery of real-life naval tactics combined with intelligent imagination about how those tactics would be affected by things like fireball spells and alchemical catapults.  It led to several WOW! moments for me, and I don’t remember ever turning pages so quickly to see what would happen next.

Read this one.  You won’t regret it.